SD Gundam Force Drabbles
by Penelopi
Summary: Shorter works based in the SD Gundam Force series. Not all fall into the same continuity as my multi-chapter fic Little Wing. Topics vary.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Notes**

Hey, all! It's been a while. _Little Wing_ Chapter 22 is in the editing process and should be out within the next few weeks. In the meantime, here's the first of a few little blurbs I've made based on persistent plot bunnies. Not all fit with the canon of the show or of _Little Wing_.

 _Hot_

I wanted to take a closer look at Zero's feelings. He keeps them all bottled up inside, so it's hard to fish everything out of there. Unless he's had a bit to drink XD This is different from how things are going to happen in _Little Wing_ , but I thought the idea was cute.

 _Just a Game_

I always wanted to see that shogi match happen :3 This short takes place post-show, when the Gundam Force plus a few friends from Ark pay a visit to Lacroa Castle.

 **Disclaimer**

SD Gundam Force is produced by Sunrise and Bandai. Aleda is my OC.

* * *

 **Hot**

Baku threw back another swig and then slammed his cup down on the table. The glass shattered amid Baku's raucous laughter. "Oops!" he crowed.

Zero shook his head, muttering over his wine glass, "So unrefined, Bakunezumeru. So unrefined."

"My name is Bakunetsumaru!"

"Bakune..." Zero paused, crinkling his digital eyebrows as he struggled over the name. "Bakunez... Bakunetsss..." He growled. "What is this? I never get it wrong!"

Baku guffawed. "The wine's gotten to you, too, Zero!"

"N-Nonsense! I have wine plenty in Lacroa—"

"Sake is better!" Baku interjected, grabbing the bottle on the table to hold to Zero's face. "I told you, din' I? It tastes good!"

"It is good," Zero agreed with a lazy nod. "Very sweet."

Baku then swiped an arm over the table to fling the glass shards onto the floor.

"Bakunezumaru! You mustn't leave a mess!"

Baku waved a hand. "Don' worry! I'll clean up later. Aleda will never know." Then, his eyes squinted dangerously. "Speaking of Aleda~" Baku began slyly.

The Knight Gundam blushed. "What about Lady Aleda?"

"You seem really close with her~" Baku said, standing to migrate over and playfully elbow his friend

Zero humphed. "Of course. I am her mentor."

"And a little more." Baku gave a sly smirk.

"I have no idea what you mean to imply, snooping samurai."

"Come on~" Baku sang as he needled the Knight Gundam's arm further.

"Stop it." Zero swatted feebly at his hand.

"Come on, Zero. Leh's hear how you really feel about her."

"It is none of your—"

"The truth, Zero! Spit it out!"

Zero grumbled behind his facemask.

"I din' hear you."

Zero growled.

"Come on, say it! Aleda's the hottest robot you've ever known, in' she?"

"Take your prying nose elsewhere." Zero took another sip of plum wine.

"I don' have a nose! And I'm going to keep pesterin' you until you admit it all!"

The knight sighed. "Why?"

"Because you tell your friends these things! Come on, Zero, tell me that you love this girl! You wanna hold her!"

"Baku—!"

"You wanna kiss her 'til your faces melt off!"

Zero flushed. "Really—!"

"And you wanna stroke her down the—!"

Zero hit him over the head.

"Ow!"

"Silence, lecherous samurai! I don't have to tell you anything!"

Baku rubbed the top of his helm. "I wasn' gonna say anythin' gross. You're the one who thought those things!"

"Hrmph!"

"So, you really do think she's cute," he said snidely.

"You're a frustrating strawberry-face!"

"Then I got it right?"

Zero huffed, glaring at his sake, pouty like a child.

"I promise I won' tell anyone," Baku said.

The angry flare in Zero's blue eyes softened. "You swear?"

"On my honor as a Musha Gundam."

"Fine. Yes, you boorish samurai! I find Aleda maddeningly attractive." He took another sip.

"Well? Go on," Baku egged him on.

Zero's blue eyes hazed with distant thoughts. "You won't laugh?" he asked.

"Nah. Come on, tell me!"

A gentle hiss sounded in the background, too quiet and subtle for a tipsy, love-struck Knight Gundam to notice. "Very well. I want to marry her, and make passionate love to her, and have many beautiful children with her! Those are my feelings." The touchy facade reasserted itself as Zero set down his glass. "Now, will you leave me alone?"

Baku looked over Zero's shoulder and smirked. "I'm satisfied."

Zero turned his head. To his horror, a white-and-gold, winged Gundamess hovered at the kitchen doorway, gaping at him with a face as red as the Phoenix's feathers. "A-Aleda?!"

...

 **Just a Game**

Genkimaru stood on tiptoe to peer over the edge of the tall table. All he could see was a blank grid painted over a wooden board. A shogi board. In Lacroa Castle. So far, it was the most interesting thing that he had seen in the boring drawing room: none of the easels, paintings, plush couches, or elaborately engraved furniture had interested him. Heck, this was the most interesting thing in the castle, since it only had to compete with foreign writing, stylized prints of dragons, and two-dimensional portrayals of historic battles. "I don't know why I agreed to come here," Genki whined.

The wavy doorknob turned, and Genki gasped and darted on the other side of the shogi board. The door opened, and a heavy footstep entered. Jagged gold-tipped armor pieces shifted above Genki's line of sight. The young Musha Gundam gulped.

The figure stepped around the table and entered full view. Brown eyes found the child Gundam. The metal spokes of the intruder's impressive beard clinked from the otherwise hidden movement of his jaw. A smile? Or was it a grimace?

Genki crossed his arms. "Oh, it's you."

"Why are you here?" Kibaomaru asked him.

"Because I'm a guest! What about you?"

"I am here to play shogi, as I am in the habit of doing every afternoon."

"You didn't even come see us when we got here? Well, I guess it figures that you'd still be afraid to show your face," Genki pouted.

Kibaomaru shifted but kept his gaze squarely on the youth. "I don't owe you excuses for my schedule, child."

Genkimaru hopped out from behind the shogi board. "I'm not a kid!"

Kibaomaru harumphed, then asked, "Where is Cobramaru? I expected to see him with you."

"That guy? I gave him the slip three minutes after we landed," Genki gloated with a proud puff of his tiny chest. "Along with the rest of those bozos!"

Kibaomaru's shoulders eased. "A shame. Children are not allowed to be unattended within the castle." He stroked his beard. "I suppose I must watch after you, then."

Genki jolted. "Whaaaaaat?!" He flailed his arms in protest. "No way! I don't need a babysitter! I can take care of myself just fine without you!" Instantly, Genki covered his mouth, and his giant eyebrows drooped.

The elder Musha Gundam wrinkled his face, but he soon rolled the words off his huge shoulders and regained his regal composure. "I would like to see just how well you can handle yourself. How about a deal, Genkimaru?" He gestured to the shogi board beside them. "Defeat me at shogi, and I will let you go wherever you want."

Genki's eyebrows lifted. "Really?"

"A samurai tells no lies."

"You'll let me go do whatever I want, all by myself?"

"Only if you defeat me." Was that a smirk behind Kibaomaru's enormous beard?

"That shouldn't be too hard," Genki bragged.

"Have you ever played shogi, before?"

"Nah. But, a game's a game, and I'm a fast learner."

"I imagine you are. Show me what you can do." Kibaomaru moved to one side of the board.

Genki reached behind him, grasped one of the cushioned chairs, and tugged it to the other end. He climbed up and watched his father extract a set of wooden pieces from a sliding compartment built into the table. "Don't go easy on me," Genki warned.

"Oh, I don't intend to," Kibaomaru replied. Determination glinted in his eye, reminiscent of his days of conquest, though now tempered by warmth. The warmth of passion, joy, and... love.

"Even when it is just a game," Kibaomaru said, "I never go easy against a young warrior."

Genki slowly grinned, shedding his wary demeanor. "Good."

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

I hope you found these to be fun reads ^^ Please review!

-Penelopi


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Notes**

 _Happily-Ever-After_

This is a much smaller Valentine's Day post than I was hoping for, but it really couldn't have been helped. Been struggling to keep my head above the water and still sleep, what with the kids and my classes. I've been taking naps past 9 pm so that I can get that last bit of energy to finish up things needed those nights—and I've still slept all the way until 6 am after that. During the school day, there's so much going on that your body doesn't really get tired: there's not enough time to feel sleepy. Except in meetings. I have to tap my feet a bit to keep myself from nodding off in IEPs. The interest is there, honest, but when I don't have an active role to play, my body wants to catch up on sleep.

But, anyways, enough about me. This is a Zero/Aleda (for those who don't know, Canon/OC) that I've had sitting on my computer since November. I kind of wanted to wait a bit, because technically it has spoilers for _Little Wing_ , but when I really thought about it, it wasn't anything that readers weren't expecting, anyways. Here's my Valentine's Day contribution: a remembrance of the hard times and the little genuine responses between lovers that makes all the difference between lasting love and mere infatuation. I wanted to do a more lighthearted Shute/Rele one, too, but the ideas weren't coming to me, sorry Maybe next time.

Happy Valentine's Day!

-Penelopi

 **Disclaimer**

SD Gundam Force is produced by Sunrise and Bandai. Aleda is my OC.

* * *

 **Happily-Ever-After**

The nights after they married weren't quite like what Aleda had imagined. Not to say that they were bad. She quite liked most of them. But, not all were as blissful as had been hoped. Sometimes—frequently, at first, though with increasing rarity as time passed—Zero would wake or thrash in his sleep, gasping and struggling against foes and fears long since gone.

"No..."

The Lady Gundamess awoke and turned over in bed, shifting silky blue sheets, to see her precious knight shaking and whimpering, his unhelmeted and unmasked face twisted in pain. "No... No! Don't! Stop!" His cries rose to heartwrenching wails. "Please! Please, no!"

"Zero!" Aleda quickly pulled herself to lean over and gently shake him. "Zero, wake up!"

His blue eyes jolted online.

"Zero." Aleda grasped her panting husband's face. "It's okay, I'm here," she soothed while stroking his cheeks.

Zero, still wide-eyed, grabbed her around the shoulders and pulled her close against him, gasping. "Aleda..." He stroked her golden imitation hair mindlessly as he mantraed her name.

Aleda nuzzled him beneath his chin. "We're home, Zero. Shh. It's okay," she whispered. She gently rubbed the wide scar next to his GunSoul. "Shh. I'm safe. We're both safe."

Zero's breaths slowed. His quivering lessened. "Aleda?" he finally whispered, lucidity entering his voice. "Was I dreaming?"

"Yeah."

He squeezed her. "I'm sorry—"

"Shh," Aleda instantly hushed him, reaching her arms up around his neck and rubbing the back of his head. She gazed into his eyes, locking window-to-window and soul-to-soul. "Don't say that. There's nothing for you to be sorry for."

Zero's eyes misted. "I love you so much," he said, sliding a hand behind her head in order to pull their faces closer.

"I love you, too." Their lips met, and the touch of Zero's wife drowned out the screams of his nightmares.

Sometimes the nights were for sleep, sometimes they were for romance, and sometimes they were for tears. Aleda occasionally had her nightmares, too. But, whatever the night would bring, or the day that came after; in spite of—no, rather _because_ of the struggles, neither would say that it wasn't still their happily-ever-after.


End file.
